Bushido Best of the Web #2 and Other Game Updates

I got another Bushido Best of the Web for my recent Bushido board, checkout the link. You can see I did the usual elevated legs feature so there is room for cards, books, figs under the board and it generally makes it nicer to sit and look at, even with LOS checking. I had to spend a lot of time with the trim cut outs around the water features and I definitely learned a few ways to do this better next time, when it comes to trim and finishing.

I hang out on the Bushido the Game group on Facebook, if you are looking for an active, fun scene for all things Bushido. Join us!

I talked with Odin at GCT about the board, which was really, really cool (thanks Odin!) and I used the voucher I got from him to order some 4Ground hovels for the board, which should be sweet and in shortly. I have been wanting to build a board with "teddy bear fur" for some time, so I can start by playing with the fur roofs 4Ground supplies, meant to look like hay or thatch.

Let's see, what else have I been up to?

I made a pig sty for Bushido. Why? Why isn't everyone, really? It is a simple piece that adds difficult terrain, breaks LOS and adds theme. Don't know why but the second I got into Bushido I said I am building a sty. My buddy John said I need to make a drunk villager in there with the pigs. I think I will.

40K: Been played 8th and really loving it, but like a lot of things, not playing it enough. Trying to cast up some custom Chimera turrets and build out two non-heavy weapon squads for some lower point/high-agility objective takers. Oh! Both are armed with Plasma Rifles, having been sent to me as a gift by my buddy Major Downer over at the Imperial Guard Message Boards. If you play Guard in 40k, go check out that community. Thanks for the figs, Major!!!

40K Defense Line: I bought the Imperial Redoubt to go with this old set of Forge World defense line I have had forever. Not really into finishing this all at once but I am chipping away at it. So much Nuln Oil...

Valhallan artillery tractor: This is a Dust model lightly modded to be a light errand lorry. Again, this is a theme piece and looks good with the Valhallans, especially equipped with a handy snow plow for managing the airfields of Hammerfall V.

Scatter stowage/containers: My buddy Joe at Rocketship games offers 3D printed terrain and this set is particularly awesome for 40k, so I did up a set. Joe has a Kickstarter running called Kolony, you should check out. It features great printable terrain suitable for 40K and Infinity. I backed it, so should you!

Valhallan Barracks: I added in some DUST quansets as barracks to boot, easy adds and really dress the board well. Note that I used super glue to add acetate windows, simply letting the fumes of the glue "frost" the windows. I love efficiency. You could also spray the acetate with Dullcote but this was faster and more fun just to see the random frost patterns set up. 

I also snagged a Banebalde kit for US$75 which I should probably build soon. The club usually has an Apocalypse game in January. I guess I should order a second set of sponsons? Gotta get the new Codex to see what load outs there are.

Strange Aeons: Picked up some classic Ral Partha Vampires! I remember lusting after these at the Willow Grove Mall in Pennsylvania in the 90's. glad I finally got my hands on them for Strange Aeons games, not that anybody has a Threshold team strong enough to cope with the Nightstalkers.

Stuffed Fables: I am dying to get this game and paint up that stuff. So, hopefully soon. PDF of rules are free online already! Check it out at Plaid Hat Studios

Imperial Assault: With Legion looming in the distance it is easy to forget I have a lot of IA to paint and play with. At a family function I got into a conversation about Legion killing IA; I don't think it is going to happen, if anything, Legion may drawn in players that don't end up caring much for the scope and hobby demands of Legion games and maybe they go IA, and enjoying that much more. We'll see. I will likely want to start the IA queue for this after I see Last Jedi (got my tix already!)

Robotech: I haven't done much here but pulled out the last of the Regults I need to do to get the base missions going. Looking forward to playing this and painting up some Zentradi female power armor too. I have had this game too damn long to not have played it. Sigh.

As always, follow me on Instagram for more frequent posts on Yeti doings: sarcophagi_yetisyell

Hope ya'll are productive and having fun!

Best,

Yeti

TTCombat: Yu Pagoda Finished (For Now)

Part 3 is found here. She's done for now. All-in-all this was a very fun kit. A few closing thoughts on the build: This is a high-quality kit, worth the price, even to the US from the UK. It is well-designed and sturdy, and sections lift off clean during play. With building, it pays to take your time with the kit and listen to yourself about how you want to modify it, if at all. That said, even unaltered it is beautiful. And imposing! This will dominate your average game of Bushido, with a 11"x11" footprint. Verticality will have to be a house rule in some cases, depending on the game system but for Bushido, well, we will have to have a batrep and see how it changes the game. Lastly, after the roof was together, I plan on running a bead of dark caulk underneath where each of the roof tiles meet, to strengthen it just a bit, and keep flex from warping or popping the tiles; just a suggestion.

I am really looking forward to some Bushido games with this... well done TTCombat!

Bushido: Version 2 Lit Pagoda or, Kung Flu Hustle

Here’s some notes on my latest Bushido pagoda terrain build using aquarium pieces. Sorry for the delay on this, you might say I was ill. You might also say I had food-fever, eye chills, skin failure, gravity allergies and corpse throat.

2 Christmas’s ago I made two lit pagodas from aquarium pieces that I gave as gifts to my friends. I learned a lot from that build and made notes on things to do better next time, should there be a next time. Next time was last month, where I finally made one for my own Bushido table. You can see the first assembly notes here.

What was different this time with this build, a Version 2 pagoda, if you will? Well, after working and playing on the original Version 1 pagodas I noticed a few things that I could change for Version 2:

1.       You could add more playability The inside of the Version 1 pagodas was not as playable as I would like for all models.  A small based model would fit fine but multiple models won’t and medium-to-large based models are right out, especially in Bushido, since models can’t easily be placed inside the pagoda to begin with, mostly due to the circular curves of the entrances. This raises the point of having that weirdness where only one model can be placed. World-ending feature? No way, but that piece all lit up screams for more models under the light. Most miniature games run into this physicality stuff so players usually keep blank bases handy for this and that would be fine but I figured I could make it so that more than one model could be placed inside for the truly epic looking last stand moments ala Avengers: Age of Ultron, minus the pouting giga-heroes, weird Godzilla spouses-come-Miracle siblings and Robert California Terminator. Cuts at the entrances were made with a Xacto Razer saw so columns were straight and flush and that was all that was needed for multiple models and various base sizes to fit. It did lose some of the cool style though.  We are gamers, we can take trade-offs, sumus qui sumus. With these cuts, assume the resin on these aquarium pieces are made from unholy poison, so the dust is best kept outside of your lungs and eyes: wear a respirator, cut and trim/clean pieces outside, and wash your face and hands afterwards.

2.       Different runs of product will vary greatly: The resin was really brittle this time. Wow, I was really surprised that with the first two pieces from before that the resin was stronger, a daunting realization when one cuts away a lot more resin in Version 2. It looks to me that these pieces are blow molded in a way that allows for variation in thickness between castings, which affects the strength. Not much you can do after you buy it so keep it in mind when you shop. Thicker is better.

3.       Line of sight: gotta break it up more than before and with that, make it more sexy and scenic. A Version 2 pagoda was a chance to do more scenic stuff, namely, elevation and LOS blocking. Usually more art means less playable space in a game the better looking scenery gets so I tried to strike a balance; this is the most fun part to me, laying out raw, unfinished elements of the build, like the wood chips for rocks and playing around with figures on the mock ups to dial in stability and aesthetics. The Version 1 pagodas are great for a lot of Bushido missions where you may put an objective like an idol under the lamp in the center of the pagoda but the open space around the pagoda, while very flat and playable (you can always add scatter scenery to it) seems like a lost opportunity now. Since my Version 2 pagoda was supposed to be in the heart of the rain forest I made it a bit more rugged and old, but maintained looking. I used a new Gorilla Glue silicone adhesive to glue down the pagoda, after new cuts and same finishing as Version 1, and boy did it work great. Long tool time, quick grab and void-filling. It was forgiving to be able to lay out large masses of adhesive, have it grab the wood nuggets and let me slide, shove and stack them until they looked organic and best, playable for miniatures (given I had made a dry run before hand.) The adhesive did not shrink or crack which is a plus as well. After an overnight, the adhesive was dried and I finished with finger-tooled caulk.

4.       Painting and finishing: Pretty straightforward, I used Army Painter spray and colors to match this to the Plast Craft building I made before, using the same colors. I did add a small spring and pond, using MIG mud on the bottom, silicone caulk to hold some random plastic grass fronds I had in bits, and then Envirotex resin for water. I made a mix of scenic tufts, flocking and scatter leaves compliments the watercolor-like finish I applied to it.

5.       Tea lights: Version 1 pagodas have LED tealights, which look great in yellow. For Version 2 I added a flicker LED light I got on Christmas clearance this year and it looks much better than the always-on LED. The flicker adds a ton of character and is mounted with magnet, just like version 1 pagodas. The only modification I needed to make with the new tealights was to remove their casing since the white plastic covering the light was really big and dimmed the light through the white plastic case too much.

So there you have it! Version 2 pagoda all done. Expect to see it featured in an upcoming Bushido battle report.

Construction pics below.